Friday, February 8, 2013

What to serve for Chinese New Year? David Chang’s Bo Ssam, slow-roasted Pork with Ginger-Scallion Sauce, Ssam Sauce, Kimchi and Rice

Center this dish on your dining table and stand back.

Chinese New Year is upon us. This Sunday, February 10th is the start of the Year of the Snake. Despite all the negative connotations of snakes and snake-like behavior, according to Chinese Horoscopes the year 2013 symbolizes action, energy, leadership and vitality. This year, the snake is obligated to do its best for the good of others. All in all 2013 is seen as a good year. So there's something to celebrate. And I can't think of a better way than to serve this phenomenal dish. Not only will it bring Asia to your table for a New Year's celebration, the leftovers can be turned into a decidedly American dish--pulled pork and an Italian one--pasta sauce. I'll save those recipes for a future post. Today belongs to Bo Ssam, the brain child of David
Chang, everyone’s favorite renegade chef. Chef Chang's tiny Momofuku Ssam Bar, on a decidedly unfashionable strip of lower
Second Avenue (207 2nd
avenue new york, NY 10003), is perpetually packed. David is a particular favorite of ours and
not only because he loves one of our absolute favorite Montreal restaurants
--Joe Beef-- so much (http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2011/10/next-stop-in-montreal-homage-to-joe.html), that he wrote the introduction to its cookbook.
David Chang is inventive, highly skilled and most of all,
magnanimous. If you need proof of that
last characteristic, consider his sharing this particular recipe: He has
included it in his Momofuku cookbook (Clarkson Potter 2009) even though it is
such a hit at his eponymous restaurant that, even at $200, a 6 to 10 person Bo
SSam has to be ordered well in advance.
But here’s the incredible thing:
You can make this amazing dish at home for well under $40.00! Now if that sounds like some kind carnival
barker talking, it’s because I was astonished at how good it is and, quite
frankly, while I am not a complete skinflint, nothing makes me happier than a
great food bargain. Particularly one
that tastes this good.

Momofuku Ssam Bar, home of the $200Bo Ssam

Sam Sifton
featured the recipe in a recent New York Times Sunday magazine, which is where
we found it. Sifton wrote “This
weekend’s dinner is a slow-roasted shoulder of pig, a meal that can be picked
apart by a table of friends armed only with chopsticks and lettuce. A tight and salty caramel crust sits on top
of the moist, fragrant collapse of meat…it is pork as pommes soufflé.” Now if that description doesn’t have you high tailing
it to the supermarket for this weekend’s dinner, what will? Perhaps the fact that pork butt cost me $1.89 lb. at Fresh Direct and that this dish, to quote Sifton again, “turns anyone with an
oven and a few hours into a chef.” I’ll
drink to that. While you are picking up your pork, buy the ginger and
scallions you’ll need for the sauce.

A Primer on Korean Pastes...you want the one on top and the oneon the bottom of this photo

There are a few
ingredients that may not be quite that simple to find and they are pretty well
essential to the dish. These are the
Korean pastes, Gochujang, the sweet one and Ssamjang, a spicy fermented soybean
paste. Also recommended to be served
with your Bo Ssam is the ubiquitous Korean fermented cabbage, Kimchi, which is showing up all over the place -- I got mine at Trader Joes. As to the pastes, fortunately, New York has an entire Koreatown and I was able to get
everything I needed at Han Ah Reum Supermarket (25 West 32nd St.
between 5th and Broadway. Tel. (212) 695-3283.) Having made the trek downtown, I was somewhat chagrinned to find them both at Fairway! But if you can't find them locally, you can order everything you
need from this site http://www.hmart.com or
search the site for a Korean market close to home.

What is it
about this dish that makes it worth the effort?
First of all, shopping aside, there’s not a lot of effort involved. It’s an ideal dish to cook when you’re home
for the day, hiding out from the cold. It’s perfect for a Saturday night
gathering or a Sunday night you won’t soon forget. You basically use a salt and sugar rub
overnight then the next day, put the pork in the oven for a good long time,
assemble the sauces, cook some rice, then at the last moment encrust the pork with a brown
sugar and salt mixture, put everything in the center of the table and stand
back. You and your guests will devour
this dish, wrapping the unbelievably tender pork in crisp Boston lettuce leaves
then topping it with rice, sauces, and kimchi, all at once or in any
combination you please. Please make this
sometime soon. You won’t believe how
good it is. Here is the recipe.

1
tablespoon chili paste (gochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)

½ cup
sherry vinegar

½ cup
neutral oil (like grapeseed)

Accompaniments

2 cups
plain white rice, cooked

3 heads
bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

Kimchi
(available in many Asian markets, and online).

1.
Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the
salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it
with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or
overnight.

2. When
you’re ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and
discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and
cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the
tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this
point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an
hour.

3.
Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the
scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if
needed.

4. Make
the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and
oil, and mix well.

6. When
your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven
to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with
the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for
approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on
the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.